


My Green Eyed Girl

by ZaharaDessert



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Cursed!Emma Swan, Detective Inspector!Killian Jones, Dog!Emma Swan, F/M, Fluff, Little bit Silly, Neal Cassidy is an asshole drug dealer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-20 09:48:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30003027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZaharaDessert/pseuds/ZaharaDessert
Summary: Detective Inspector Killian Jones runs a drug bust on a property owned by infamous dealer, Neal Cassidy. No one expects Cassidy's dog, Emma to take such a shine to the DI, but it's a bond that nothing and nobody is getting in the way of.
Relationships: Captain Hook | Killian Jones & Prince Charming | David Nolan, Captain Hook | Killian Jones & Robin Hood, Captain Hook | Killian Jones/Emma Swan, Prince Charming | David Nolan/Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard
Comments: 50
Kudos: 77





	1. Man's Best Friend

**Author's Note:**

  * For [xhookswenchx (ReluctantPrincess)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReluctantPrincess/gifts).



> So, this was a little bunny I got from watching Police Interceptors of all things, but it evolved into something very different. It's got a very 'Once' twist that the original story didn't have!
> 
> Thanks to ultraluckycatnd for the awesome beta job, you're amazing!
> 
> This is a present in three parts for xhookswenchx because she needs a distraction from playing the waiting game this weekend. I hope you like what I've done!

They’d known there was a dog on the property from the intelligence that had been gathered. What they hadn’t expected was for the owner of the property to be absent, when he should have been at home due to the conditions of his current bail agreement. They didn’t often arm themselves like this, but they’d expected to need the guns to subdue the occupants of the house. Instead, they were met with just the enthusiastic barking and wagging tail of a goldendoodle through the lounge window.

Detective Inspector Killian Jones ran a hand through his hair as he assessed the situation. He’d always been good at thinking on his feet, knowing what to do with ever changing situations. They couldn’t use their big yellow key, because there was glass in the front door, and looking through the letter box resulted in licked fingers, so if they broke the glass in the window they were going to injure the dog and that was the last thing any of them wanted. Injuring Cassidy or one of his minions would have been one thing, but a dog that couldn’t help who their owner was, no that wasn’t an option.

“Find me an open window,” Killian said, “Or at least one we can break in a room the dog can’t get to.” Less than a minute later there was a shout from the back garden.

“Bathroom window is open, but it’s small!” Constable Scarlet said, leaning over the back gate.

“Let’s have a look,” Killian replied, heading over and vaulting the gate and heading round after Scarlet. DS Locksley was already bargaining with a neighbour for the use of the triple extension ladder on the top of their van.

It was a _really_ small window.

“I’ll give it a go, Sir, if Locksley can get me a ladder,” said a young constable, one of the newest additions to the station, Christina Bell.

“There’ll be a drop on the other side,” he warned. She was easily the smallest officer here, and possibly the only one with a hope in hell of getting through that tiny window. Scarlet might have, if his shoulders weren’t so broad; maybe when he’d first started, before he’d decided to bulk up.

“Normally I’d be more worried about the dog in there, but she’s a sweetheart, I can tell,” she said with a grin.

“Good thing too. Our neighbour over there says if she wasn’t such a nice animal, she’d be a menace for the lack of attention. Apparently, her being shut out in the yard in the rain is a common occurrence,” Robin informed him as he brought the ladder over.

Will helped him set it up, and Officer Bell was soon up the ladder and had her shoulders through the window.

“Hey beautiful, you mind if I come in?” they heard her say, followed by a laugh. “Get off the sink, I need to put my foot there!” They watched as Tink wiggled and scrambled her way through the window. Finally, her second boot disappeared, and they heard the dog going a little crazy for the attention.

Moments later, the back door was opening, and the dog bounded into the garden, sniffing at feet and jumping up to try and lick faces. Killian laughed as the fluffy, golden, curly haired dog came up to him and licked his fingers before running back inside. She came back out with a small teddy bear in her mouth and started rubbing against his legs.

“Ok then, let’s go in. I want to find what we need before he gets home,” Killian directed, and watched as the officers he’d brought with him to search the property walk into the house. The dog looked a little unsure about everyone going into the house, but she looked up at Killian with her pale green eyes and he smiled reassuringly at her as he patted her head. “You want to show me your home girl?” he asked. She snuffled and shook her head, but started to pad towards the door, looking expectantly back at him when he didn’t follow immediately, cocking her head curiously.

Killian had to laugh. He pulled on a pair of gloves and followed her inside.

There was a distinct grubbiness to the kitchen they’d walked into. And an even grubbier crate in the corner that was clearly the dog’s bed. Honestly, Killian was surprised by how clean she appeared considering the state of the house, but on closer inspection, there was definitely a slightly matted quality to her fur, and the fringe over her brow looked like it needed a trim so that she could see properly.

Killian made a mental note to call the RSPCA once they’d found what they needed.

He crouched down by the empty and dry dog bowls, deciding to refill the water bowl for her; bastard couldn’t even be bothered to take care of his own dog. The moment it was on the ground she was lapping up the water eagerly, and Killian frowned down at the dog. He was here for a drug bust, but his concern for the dog was genuine. He didn’t want to leave her here if they had to walk away empty handed.

She was soon satisfied with drinking and butted his hand with her head again. Killian took a moment to check her collar.

‘Emma’

“Where’s your Dad hiding his drugs, hey Emma?” he asked.

For a moment Emma just looked at him curiously, seemingly considering him.

“You got something you want to show me, love?” he asked quietly. Emma backed off a little, with that same almost calculating expression on her face. She dropped her toy and moved forward, gently gripping his sleeve with her teeth and tugging on it until he stood up, when she promptly let go and ran out of the kitchen towards the rest of the house.

Killian followed the dog up the stairs and into the bathroom, where she began scrabbling at the edge of the bath panel. For a moment, Killian second guessed himself, but at the dog’s insistent scratching and whining he made a decision.

“Locksley!” Killian called, and the Sergeant was soon pounding up the stairs. “Help me with this bath panel,” he instructed, and Emma backed off as between them, they pried it off.

Stuffed into the gap was bags upon bags of packaged up drugs, just waiting to be put out on the street, passed on to various dealers and runners. Potentially ending the lives of many people. Thousands of pounds of profit Neal Cassidy would now never get.

“Well I’ll be,” Robin muttered. It was far more than they had expected.

Killian turned to the dog with a grin on his face and immediately started petting her enthusiastically. “Who’s a good girl, is it you Emma? Is it you?” He laughed when she darted in to lick his face. “Yes, it is, look at you, showing us to the bad man’s drugs.”

Locksley was looking at him like he’d grown a second head.

“What? I asked, and she led me right in here…” he explained.

“Really?” he asked, looking down at the dog who was happily pressed against Killian’s chest, her tail beating the floor enthusiastically as she licked his neck. “I guess you are a good girl…” Robin said, holding out his hand. Emma cocked her head at him and then licked his fingers before nuzzling her way under Killian’s arm.

Both men laughed and Killian patted Emma’s side with a satisfied smile on his face. If he hadn’t already been set on a pretty good path, this was going to make his career.

“I don’t suppose there’s anything else hidden around here Emma? Got something else to show me?” he asked. Emma paused again, looking at him curiously. Like she was thinking.

With a huff, she was suddenly streaking out of the bathroom door and into the spare bedroom, where the boiler cupboard was located. She scratched at the door, and Killian grinned as he opened the door and the smell of growing cannabis rolled out.

The walls had been moved to create a growing room in between the two bedrooms. It wasn’t a huge haul of plants, but it was more than big enough for the kind of reach Cassidy’s weed deals had. There hadn’t just been cannabis under the bath after all.

“You are on a roll girl, are you going to show me anything else?” Killian asked, a little dumbfounded by the way this dog was showing them round the house, literally leading them right to what they were asking for.

Emma was off again, streaking back downstairs and into the lounge where she jumped onto the sofa and started digging into the sofa. When Killian and Robin pulled all of the cushions off, they found cash stuffed into a rip in the back of the sofa, and all the particulars for weighing and bagging out drugs to sell were in the drawer of the coffee table.

* * *

Cassidy had arrived home half an hour after Emma had laid down with a satisfied huff at Killian’s feet when he asked her if there was anything else for them to find and was arrested on the spot. He’d tried to call the dog, but she’d just growled at him and hidden behind Killian, whose hand had moved to rest on her head. She’d calmed down immediately, nuzzling into his thigh.

They’d never had such a successful and swift raid. Honestly, it was as much due to Emma, possibly more than it was the work of his officers. With Neal already heading to the station in the back of a police van, Killian crouched down, and Emma looked at him, sat demurely on the path.

“What am I going to do with you, Emma?” he asked. She cocked her head and lifted her paw to rest it on his knee and he sighed.

“You know, Sir, you could call her evidence, and have to look after her until after the trial…” Scarlet said as he walked past with a box of evidence heading for a police car. “I doubt she’s planning on letting anyone take her anywhere that isn’t with you,” he added, walking backwards as he looked down at the dog and his superior officer.

Killian sighed. Will wasn’t exactly wrong, but he wasn’t right either, but Killian found he couldn’t bring himself to call the RSPCA and see Emma taken away in a van like the one that had taken Neal. She deserved better than that. He looked into her eyes for a moment, and made his decision.

“Do you want to come home with me, Emma?” he asked. There was another pause as she considered, and Killian felt like she was looking into his soul or something. Then, with a joyful bark, Emma leapt at him and pushed him over backwards.

Killian landed on the front lawn with an ‘ooof’ and a groan as Emma stepped on his bladder, and then he was laughing as she started licking his face, whining and barking with excitement. He’d never met a dog who seemed to understand the way Emma did; hell he’d never met a person who’d taken to him like she had.

Robin chose that moment to walk out of the house. Emma paused in her licking and cocked her head at him before going back to licking Killian’s face, which he was now trying to defend with his forearms. Robin pulled his phone out and took a picture.

“I knew you wouldn’t be able to say no to that face, Sir,” he said as he sent him the photo. “Everyone thinks you’re a hard arse, but we all know you’re really a marshmallow.”

“Watch it, Locksley, or I will be forced to defend my reputation,” Killian quipped back. Emma barked in agreement and calmed down enough to let Killian sit up.

“Noted, Sir,” he said, heading back into the house to finish up.

* * *

Several hours later, after a trip to the RSPCA vets and the local ‘Pets at Home’, Killian and Emma were settled on the sofa. Emma was asleep with her head in his lap as his hand gently caressed her head while he watched the news. Her fur was shorter now, having been clipped fairly close to get rid of all the matting that had been starting to develop. Her eyebrows and whiskers had been trimmed too, her fur was silkier from her grooming, and she seemed happier in a more contented way than when they’d first let her out of Cassidy’s back door.

It had only taken half an hour before Emma had wheedled her way from the rug the coffee table was sat on to the other end of the couch, and then where she was now. She’d laid in the kitchen, getting under his feet as he cooked himself dinner. They chatted, well, he talked, and Emma cocked her head in a way that had him genuinely convinced she knew exactly what he was saying. She’d laid beside his chair while he ate, not begging once, and had eagerly scoffed down the kibble he put in her bowl while he did the washing up.

Turning off the TV, Killian gently roused the dog and she yawned and stretched before hopping off the sofa. She whined by the back door when she needed to pee, and she’d even wiped her paws on the way back in before she followed him up the stairs. Emma settled on the end of his bed while he changed, and once he’d climbed in, she tentatively shuffled up to lie next to him.

With his hand resting on Emma’s warm fur, he could almost forget the woman tattooed into memory on his arm. Something about this just felt… right. In that moment, Killian was very sure he’d made the right choice in bringing Emma home with him. He shifted in the dark, smoothing his hand over Emma’s head and pressing a kiss to it.

A wave of warmth washed through him and he rolled back back into the pillows. Pure exhaustion washed over him, as sleep started to claim him and his last thought before he succumbed to it was…

If only he could win over a real woman, the way he won over a dog.


	2. The More Girls I Meet, The More I Love My Dog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma the dog is now happily living with DI Killian Jones, but how does life progress for them now?

Days and nights with Killian’s new friend in his life quickly turned into weeks without him noticing anything more than the speed at which he went through food, and the embarrassment of having to detour on their morning walk to buy more because he hadn’t realised they’d run out. He’d apologised profusely to the golden-haired dog, and she’d simply nuzzled into his side affectionately and licked his ear.

That afternoon he’d been recommended a food delivery service by one of his colleagues, and Killian decided that having food delivered at regular intervals was a very good plan indeed and had spent ten minutes of his lunch break sorting it out.

He’d gotten used to rising earlier and taking Emma for a walk and didn’t begrudge her early morning excitement one bit. Quite often, he’d take her into work with him, and she curled up under his desk, or went to seek out affection from one of his team. She always seemed to know if someone needed some support with something, from a simple hand lick, or half an hour with her head resting on their lap as they worked. If they all had to go out, the guys in the office were always happy to have her company. The booking officers were marvelled by the way she seemed to help calm everyone down, charming even the most belligerent drunks.

Weeks slipped into months, and Killian was still amazed by the way Emma could read a situation, and him in them. She knew when he needed her to give him a little space, and when he wanted to be able to reach out and know she was there. He talked to her about everything, cases, his hopes and fears. Things he wanted to do, items on his bucket list, places he’d been, books he was reading or looking forward to coming out. And through it all, Emma listened like she actually understood every single word. Killian wanted to believe that she did, but part of him wasn’t willing to take that step.

Jefferson, one of the other inspectors in the station and one of Killian’s oldest friends, and he often walked down to the little patch of grass round the corner and threw a ball for Emma while they ate their lunch. He was a little weird, but Killian had always liked that about him. It had taken Emma a little longer to read him than it had anyone else, but when the other man was in one of his moods, Emma seemed to be the only one who could get through to him.

“You got real lucky there, Killian,” Jefferson remarked one day as they headed through the maze of corridors.

“Yeah, but… I don’t know… sometimes I wonder how the hell a dog is as intelligent as she is. She just… gets people,” he explained. The only reason he used a lead at all was because he didn’t want anyone to accuse him of not taking good enough care of her.

Jefferson laughed.

“Just accept the magic and move on, Jones,” he said with a shake of his head.

“You think I have a magical dog?” Killian asked sceptically.

“Well why not, even with sniffer dogs it would have taken you at least ten times as long to search that house and with potentially less success. A sniffer dog wouldn’t have found that cash,” Jefferson replied with a shrug.

“Yeah, but… magic?”

“You know what the issue is with this world? Everyone wants a magical solution to their problem, and everyone refuses to believe in magic,” Jefferson muttered grumpily. Killian didn’t fail to notice the way Emma’s nose brushed against Jefferson’s palm. “And don’t think I haven’t noticed how your dog has the same name as the victim in the one case you never managed to solve,” he said, bluntly voicing the thought that had been rolling around in both their heads for months now.

Killian’s jaw clenched, but they both kept walking.

Jefferson turned down the corridor towards his office without another word, and Emma whined after him. He paused long enough to look back at the dog and shrug in an ‘I tried’ sort of manner that just had Killian even more confused by the interaction than he had been before. He couldn’t exactly call what his friend had said an outburst, not even by his standards, but he was definitely upset about something.

With a sigh, Killian continued back into his domain, His team had grown and changed somewhat over the last year since he’d taken it over. His Sergeant, Robin, was still the same and despite a rocky start they got on really well, had each other’s backs. Will had passed his detective exam and was now DC Scarlet, and yes he was brash and loud, but he had an enthusiasm that five years pounding the streets hadn’t managed to dim. John Little, the largest detective Killian had ever met in his life, was the kind of man people just didn’t tend to argue with. Lastly, William Smee, another DC, who had the uncanny ability to find things, like leads, in the haystack of information they were sometimes presented with. Tink, as Christina Bell had come to be known, was a regular addition to the team, and while Emma had become a little wary of her a few months ago for some unknown reason, that wariness had since passed, and Tink often came by just to see her.

That was, in fact, exactly where Emma headed, the second she caught Tink’s smell on the air. Killian laughed in spite of the thoughts rolling around in his mind and headed for his office. He shut the door most of the way, so that Emma could nose in if she wanted to and went over to the filing cabinet. He pulled open the bottom drawer and flipped the lid off the box he hadn’t touched since before he moved into the office.

He pulled out the notebook she’d left behind in her flat the morning she disappeared, full of notes on random things, doodles and sketches and song lyrics and poems. He ran his fingers over the smooth leather of the leather jacket that they’d found abandoned in the bar she’d been to, along with her purse. Her purse was in evidence, gathering dust along with her ID and most of the files they’d put together. All he had in here was her notebook, jacket, and his own personal notes.

Notes that hadn’t got him anywhere near close to working out what the hell had happened to Emma Swan the night she’d disappeared three years ago.

He left the drawer open and took a seat at his desk. Thumbing through the pages he almost knew by heart brought no new revelations, just like they hadn’t any other time he’d done it. Emma nosed her way in and sat in front of him.

“Well, do you know where Emma Swan is?” he asked, figuring he had nothing to lose.

Emma replied by putting a paw up on his knee and cocking her head with a whine, and once again, Killian couldn’t help but feel that his dog was doing her darndest to look into his soul.

He shook his head.

“Didn’t think so,” he sighed. Emma huffed and shuffled round to lie down under his desk. He really ought to get a rug for under there; he didn’t want her to hurt herself.

* * *

That night, Killian brought the box home and put it on a shelf in his study, prepared to forget about it again for another couple of years until something else brought the case to mind. He’d just sat down to eat dinner when the phone rang, and were it not for the name on the screen he’d have hung up.

“David, long time no speak,” he said with a grin as he started poking at his curry with his fork. From her bed in the corner of the room, Emma turned her gaze on her human with curiosity in her eyes. This was not a name she recognised and the voice coming out of the phone was not one she remembered.

_“Yeah, that’s completely my fault, with the move back stateside and everything,”_ David responded with a chuckle.

“And all the time you used to spend on me now being spent with your new bride. I’m starting to regret setting you up, you know,” Killian joked, settling back in his chair.

_“Yeah... speaking of... I’d like to return the favour.”_ And there it was, that thing he knew was coming because David’s wife Mary was worse than he was for wanting people to find their ‘happy ending’.

“David, you really don’t have to,” Killian protested with a sigh. “I am perfectly happy with the way my life is, thank you,”

_“Killian, you’re not, all you do is work,”_ David countered. Emma huffed across the room and Killian couldn’t help but smile.

“Actually, I don’t. I adopted a dog, so I can’t just work any more.”

_“So, you’re telling me that instead of wanting to come home to a beautiful woman, who loves you and understands you, you want to come home to an animal, that you’re going to outlive by several decades?”_

“Thanks David, that’s really put it into perspective for me,” Killian snapped.

_“Alright, I’m sorry, but hear me out, okay? She’s perfect for you...”_

Killian resigned himself to not being able to get out of it, and when he finally agreed that David could set up the date, Emma huffed and left the room. Killian watched her go with surprise. Emma had never walked out of a room like that before. He shook his head at himself. David was right, Emma was a dog, and she wouldn’t be around forever.

* * *

A week later, the night of Killian’s date, Emma ignored him from the moment he walked in the door until just before he walked out of it again. Her whine had him pausing to crouch down in front of her as she pressed her head into his palm. His chest clenched painfully when he saw the look in her eyes, she was scared. She’d been neglected before and she felt safe with him; upsetting their status quo had her worried.

“This doesn’t have to change anything, Emma, I’m not going to like someone who doesn’t love you just as much as I do...” he assured her, and she seemed to soften a little as she nuzzled his face.

This was enough, he thought as he reluctantly pulled back to straighten his tie and walk out the front door. Apart from the fact that she couldn’t talk, she was the perfect companion. Maybe he could get away with one-night stands for the rest of his life. It might get David off his back about it a little at least.

She still didn’t look happy as he headed out the front door, but he couldn’t spend the whole date thinking about his dog, that would just be rude. Even if this wasn’t going to work out, she didn’t deserve that.

Unfortunately, Eloise Gardener was not the perfect match for Killian that David had promised. Not only was she allergic to almost everything on the menu at the restaurant Killian had chosen, but she was also one of those people who seemed to have decided that their opinion was fact and that by not agreeing you were violating her human rights. They said their goodbyes at the end of the night without even a ‘it was lovely to meet you’ and Killian headed home to lie on the sofa and binge a few episodes of Schitt’s Creek with Emma curled up next to him.

She probably would have hated all the trashy TV he liked to watch to wind down after a stressful day either. It was probably a good thing they realised their incompatibility quickly.

* * *

The next date someone set him up on was with a woman called Zelena West, who was Robin’s girlfriend’s cousin, or something. She was eccentric, but the first date had gone well enough that Killian had invited her over the week after to cook her dinner and she had accepted.

The moment Zelena had stepped inside the house, she started sneezing. Considering that goldendoodles were relatively hypoallergenic, Killian hadn’t thought Emma would be a problem. Until Zelena started screaming about ‘getting that filthy animal out of my sight’ and Emma had started growling.

Killian had very quickly and firmly established that if Emma was an issue Zelena might as well leave now, because he wasn’t going to give up his dog for someone who couldn’t even be honest about not liking them when he’d mentioned her at least once.

That night as Killian forwent the fancy meal he’d planned in favour of beans on toast and his favourite movie. When he was done, Emma licked the bean juice off his discarded plate and joined him on the sofa. Killian started to feel an ache of loneliness in his chest. He thought he’d managed to banish it years ago, but actively dating again was reopening the wound. He realised he’d never have considered saying yes to these dates if it wasn’t for the love that Emma had shown him over the last few months.

Her loyalty and affection were unconditional, unreserved and genuine. She _had_ started to heal him in a way he hadn’t understood until this moment.

* * *

Ariel was lovely but she was just not Killian’s type. She was one of Tink’s friends from school, and he’d tried to tell Tink she was too young for him but apparently, she had a crush on him. At least this time they seemed to part on more agreeable terms because he suggested that she see if Eric, his new DC was interested. (It would turn out he was, but they didn’t know that in the moment) So Killian walked her home and left her with a kiss on the cheek and the wish that she find what she was looking for.

She returned the sentiment and Killian smiled, but it didn’t change the fact that while he hadn’t felt lonely when he’d first had the conversation with David... he certainly did now.

* * *

The one consistency in this was that after every failed date, Killian came home to find Emma waiting up for him, to console him and nuzzle against his face and lick his hands. To lie next to him as he felt that ache in his chest grow stronger as he lost his fingers in her now regrown fur.

“Fairly sure I’ve found the perfect woman,” he said with a sigh as he turned on his side to look at her. “It’s a real shame you’re a dog, maybe I should start believing in magic,” he joked with a shake of his head. He yawned and Emma shuffled closer with a sigh, Killian wrapped his arm over her. “Least I’m not coming home to a completely empty house huh? I love you, Emma.” He pressed his lips to the top of the dog's head and felt a rush of warmth wash over him.

But with his eyes already closed, Killian didn’t see the wave of rainbow light that rippled out through the room. He didn’t see the slow change that started to happen to Emma’s body as they slept.


	3. Let The Words Fall Out, I Wanna See You Be Brave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the aftermath of... well... everything...

The first thing Killian was aware of was the hair in his face, which when he opened his eyes was the same colour as Emma’s fur, but… it wasn’t fur. It was definitely hair. The second thing was the fact that his hand wasn’t resting on the fur of Emma’s back, but on bare skin. Bare human skin.

He blinked and pulled back, confused.

“Whu…?” This made no sense, especially not to Killian’s half-asleep brain. He forced his brain to work and took in the woman beside him. For a start, she was quite clearly naked, and at some point during the night she’d pulled the duvet back over her body so that she didn’t get cold.

Judging by where her hair was, and the rise of her shoulders, his hand was currently on her waist. He swallowed, and started to pull his hand back, but she mumbled a protest and shifted backwards towards him. When her body settled back into the mattress, she let out a gentle sigh.

What the hell was going on, and where the hell was Emma? There was no way she’d just let someone into the house, get naked and get in his bed.

“Emma?” Killian whispered, twisting his head to look around the room. The dog was nowhere in sight. That in itself was strange, because he hadn’t woken up without Emma lying at least on the floor next to the bed for a single night since she’d arrived. “Emma,” he repeated a little louder.

“Mmm?” the woman mumbled, shifting slightly, turning her chest towards the mattress and Killian’s hand slipped to rest just above her ass.

His gaze flicked across to her, and he was ashamed to say it took him longer to drag it back off her ass than was appropriate. But in his defence it was a beautiful ass, hell her whole body was beautiful.

He cleared his throat and looked around for the dog again, but she was nowhere to be seen.

“Emma!” he whisper hissed.

“What?” the woman muttered.

For a moment there was silence. Neither of them moved, neither of them spoke and then the woman sat up with a gasp. She seemed almost completely unaware of her nakedness and turned on the bed, looking around in surprise. She took in the room, took in Killian lying next to her under the duvet, and then finally looked down at herself.

She ran her hands down her arms, down her legs, felt her face, ran her fingers into her hair and laughed. She laughed with unbridled joy and excitement.

“You did it!” she exclaimed, turning to look at him.

“Uh, what?” he asked, averting his gaze and turning bright red.

Killian was trying so hard not to look at her, he fell out of bed with a loud thump.

“Oh my God, Killian!” she said, scrambling across the bed to look down at him. “Are you alright?”

Killian groaned, rubbing the back of his head with his eyes screwed shut. She seemed overly concerned for being a stranger in his bed. He hadn’t been drinking last night, his lack of headache proved that, or at least it had before he’d hit his head on the bedside table.

“How do you know…?” he started to ask, but then he opened his eyes and looked up into her green ones, her blonde hair a wavy curtain falling down over her shoulders, and luckily her position on the bed stopped him being able to see anything that might embarrass her. “Bloody Hell,” he muttered as he took in the face of the woman hovering above him.

Even with a now splitting headache, even barely awake and struggling not to think about how naked and in his bed she was…

There was no way he wouldn’t recognise the face of the woman whose photo he’d been intermittently staring at for three years.

“You’re Emma Swan…”

“Yeah,” she replied with a slow nod.

“How are you here, and where the hell did my dog go?” he asked. Seriously, he’d fallen out of bed and she hadn’t come running? What in the name of all seven hells was going on?

“Um… Yeah, this might take some explaining…” She chewed on her lip, looking thoughtful. “Would you mind finding me something to wear?” she asked, sounding tentative and looking unsure of herself for a moment. She’d clearly just realised that she was naked, and that this was the cause of the persistent blush heating his cheeks.

“Aye, I can do that.”

Emma Swan grinned, and pulled her head back, wrapping the duvet around herself as she waited for him to find her clothes. He found a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, and put them on the edge of the bed for her.

“I’m going to go to the bathroom, and then I think I might need some coffee,” Killian said, backing towards the bedroom door.

“Yes please, I’ve missed coffee so much!” Emma Swan replied with a sigh as he walked into the bedroom door, fumbling behind him for the handle for a moment before pushing it open. His last look at Emma for now was her grinning at him, wrapped in his duvet.

* * *

By the time Emma Swan joined him in the kitchen, there was a mug of coffee waiting for her on the counter. Killian had his back to her and was frying bacon. He’d looked everywhere for his dog but he hadn’t been able to find her. If he was honest, he was starting to worry.

He heard her move around the kitchen, getting out plates and finding creamer for her coffee without needing to ask where anything was. He couldn’t help but frown at her actions, but he didn’t want to ask how she knew where everything was. Somehow, he suspected he wasn’t ready for the answer.

Finally, when they were both sat at the kitchen table, with bacon, beans and fried bread on their plates, and both on their second mugs of coffee, Killian was about to start asking questions when Emma Swan moaned through her first mouthful of food.

“Holy shit, this is so good,” she muttered, digging in hungrily. She muttered something else after the next mouthful, and Killian could have sworn she’d said, “So much better than dog food,” but he was sure his brain was playing tricks on him.

That couldn’t be it.

But he figured that having been missing for three and a half years now, she’d probably not had a decent meal in that time. So he decided to let her finish her food before he started asking questions.

“Miss Swan, I really am going to need some answers,” Killian pressed when Emma laid down her cutlery and picked up the half drunk mug of coffee.

“Go ahead,” she said with a smile that Killian might have classed as affectionate if he’d known her at all.

“Where have you been? How did you get in my house? Why were you naked in my bed? And where the bloody hell has my dog gone?” he asked, his voice rising in panic with each word as his heart beat a hard rhythm in his chest. None of this made any sense, and Killian didn’t like not knowing. All things considered, he’d been pretty calm as the events of the morning had progressed.

Emma Swan smiled and settled back in her seat, looking him over with interest and a slight tilt to her head.

“Of anyone to have worked it out, especially that quickly, Jefferson was not at the top of my list,” she said coyly. She tapped her nail on the handle of the mug in thought.

“Miss Swan, I would like a straight answer, if possible,” Killian said, his jaw tensing up, the vein ticking as his irritation and worry grew.

Emma shifted in her seat and leaned forward, resting her hand over his clenched fist.

“Hey, everything is fine, I promise, better than fine,” she said with a smile and for some reason Killian couldn’t place, he believed her without question. “I’m just… not sure you’re going to believe me…” she admitted carefully.

“You won’t know unless you try,” he ventured. He wasn’t sure he would believe her either. But there was something in her gaze, and the way her hand over his hand calmed him that he couldn’t explain.

Emma Swan nodded and took a couple of steadying breaths.

“So, I’m going to start at the beginning, and it’s going to give you some more dirt on Neal Cassidy, and I certainly won’t object to you adding charges. You might want to record this… though, using it as evidence could make things interesting.” She told him with a kind of dark amusement in her eyes.

She sipped her coffee, and Killian watched her intently as he pulled out his phone, opened the voice recorder app, and set it on the table. He nodded when he was ready for her to start.

“I was born in America, abandoned at the side of the freeway, got adopted when I was eighteen months old and was moved here when I was six by my adoptive family. They died in a car crash when I was eleven and I went back into the system. I had to move schools, they took away my phone and my laptop and I couldn’t even contact the friends I’d had before.” She sighed and sat back in her seat crossing her arms in front of her chest, and Killian could tell that the loss of two sets of parents was difficult to talk about. “Not everyone understood, I was adopted, so they weren’t my real parents, but they’d loved me most of my life, and… it still hurt, far more than anyone gave me time to deal with.”

Killian picked up his own mug, feeling uncomfortable at her confession.

She continued talking, telling him how she’d met Neal, how he’d manipulated her, used her as a drug mule without her even realising. How she’d taken the fall for a crime he’d committed so that he could disappear for a few years. Killian knew this, they’d had to unseal her records to get the information they needed. He’d thought the verdict was strange considering how little Emma had known about how the robbery had gone down in the first place. He was angry with the detectives who had let her get set up as a patsy when it had been more than obvious that a seventeen-year-old girl was not the mastermind behind the heist.

She told him how Neal had caught up with her once she was out of jail, tried to drag her back into it and she’d left. How five years later he caught up with her again, and this time she’d tried to go to the police instead of just running. Killian didn’t like her self-deprecating tone; she’d been young and naïve when she and Neal met but that wasn’t her fault. She was a child, needing acceptance and love and she’d found someone to give her what she thought that was.

Killian was looking at her in shock. He could believe it, but at the same time there was a lot that didn’t add up and he still had a lot of questions. He ran a hand through his hair and looked out the kitchen window for a moment. She’d been trying to do the right thing, and she’d been grabbed on the way. They’d suspected that her disappearance had something to do with the criminal connections of her childhood, but nothing had been pinned on any of them back then.

“That first week you nearly found me,” she told him with a reassuring smile, and Killian’s eyes snapped back to hers in question. “That warehouse, just outside Chelmsford, there was a basement. I could hear you all walking around up there, and…” She swallowed. “I tried to get someone to hear me, and I was so close to getting the concealed door open… But there was a second entrance to the basement, and they dragged me off before you guys had even left. After that, Neal didn’t leave me alone, and he didn’t want to kill me so he sought out another option.” She laughed hollowly, and drained her mug of what must have been cold coffee by now. She pulled a face that suggested he was right.

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing, that they’d been that close to finding her and they’d failed her. He couldn’t understand how she was managing to trust him with all this information when he’d clearly fucked up so badly.

“This is… where it gets weird, and if it hadn’t happened to me I’m fairly sure it would sound crazy. Jefferson’s right you know, about people wanting magical solutions but not believing in magic. That’s what happened. An associate of Neal’s, Cora Mills, is a little bit obsessed with magic, more specifically curses. She cursed me, and turned me into a dog, a Goldendoodle, which Neal kept as a pet for the next three and a half years. You couldn’t find me because you were looking for a person.”

Killian’s mouth dropped open in shock.

Emma Swan was insane, she had to be.

She laughed, but it was hollow and humourless.

“You think you don’t believe me, but the simple fact that I’m sitting here as a human and not still lying at your feet as a dog is because somewhere, in your heart, you started to at least hope that I was more than I appeared. You believed in me, and you love me. It wasn’t romantic, it’s simpler and more complicated than that; it’s loyalty, and caring, and affection. You’ve kissed me on the head before you fell asleep so many times over the last nine months, but last night you were also wishing for more. You loved your dog, purely, honestly and unselfishly, but more importantly, it was true. That love, and mine in return… broke the curse they put me under.”

As much as this sounded insane, as much as it _was_ insane… Killian couldn’t see a lie in any of it. And while sometimes a perceived truth could make a very good cover for an untruth, that wasn’t what was happening here. Somehow he just knew she was telling the truth; it didn’t matter how ridiculous the whole thing sounded, and more importantly, he believed her.

“So… Neal had you turned into a dog… and kept you in his house for nearly three years?” he clarified. “How much information do you have on what he was doing?” he asked, wanting to know how much they could pull Neal’s life apart now, get his sentence extended, keep her safe for the rest of her life.

“Three and a half years as a dog is a long time, Killian,” she said gently. “I’d recognise faces probably. If they went to the house, I’d recognise them, but details are… more difficult. Do you remember how long it took me to process what you were saying when you asked me where the drugs were?” Killian nodded. “I was losing myself. I guess that’s what happens after a while, you forget that you’re not a dog… and yes, the thought that I spent the last three and a half years eating dog food is something I’m trying not to think about,” she said, and Killian had to admit she did look a little green. “You… cared about me, and the longer I spent with you, the easier it was to remember who I was. I started to hope that one day, you might actually listen to Jefferson and find a way to break the curse.”

“And last night you… changed back…” Killian swallowed.

She nodded, watching him and in that moment, Killian could see it. The way she was looking at him, the colour of her eyes, the shade of her hair, even the way she tilted her head a little as she scrutinised him.

Silence fell between them again as they looked at each other, and Killian tried to process everything she’d told him.

“I…” he started, and for the first time in his life he didn’t have a clue what to say.

“Thank you, Killian, for saving me, twice,” she said with a smile.

Killian smiled back, a little unsure, and still rather confused. But she laid her hand over his again and smiled a little wider.

“My pleasure, love,” he finally managed, as he scratched at the spot behind his ear that always seemed to itch with uncertainty. “So… how do you propose we explain this to… the rest of the world?” he asked. Because without some serious thought he had no idea.

* * *

As it turned out, Jefferson was full of ideas. He believed Emma immediately and it didn’t take them long to come up with a plan. He teased Killian mercilessly about the whole thing, and Emma couldn’t help but be amused by their friendship.

The raid on Neal’s drug house had brought up new evidence about Emma Swan’s disappearance. Evidence that, with quiet dedication, led to Emma being found by the pair of inspectors. Both officers received a commendation, and Killian found himself another goldendoodle rescue dog to replace ‘Emma’.

Emma Swan testified and told the police everything she could remember, remaining in protective custody (basically living with Killian because she refused to live anywhere else) until after the hearing with Neal. Neal looked murderous as she made her statement, and when kidnapping charges were added to his drug time… he wasn’t going to be a free man for a very long time.

Emma had grown edgy and anxious as the trial came to a close, and Killian was worried about her. They’d settled into an easy camaraderie in the months since she’d turned back into a human, an easy coexistence like nothing Killian had ever known; the way they moved around each other when they were using the same room, or the way they settled in to watching something on the TV every evening. But the end of the trial saw her withdrawing into herself, and Killian could tell she was expecting something to change. The same way she had before that disastrous date with Eloise Gardener.

When they got home that evening, Emma had barely dared to perch on the edge of her seat as they ate dinner, picking at her food in a way he’d never seen her do before.

“Emma, what’s wrong?” he asked, finally biting the bullet and asking.

“Do I have to… leave now?” she asked tentatively. “I don’t need protecting anymore, so…”

He should have known this was coming. She wanted to go out and live her life; she’d had so much time taken from her because of Neal and now that she was free, she wanted to go and make the most of it.

“You can do whatever you like now, even your juvenile record has been expunged,” he reminded her.

“And if I wanted… to stay?” she asked tentatively. She wasn’t looking at him, and for the first time he realised she was truly scared of his response.

Killian swallowed and licked his lips, his breath seemingly stolen from his lungs. She wanted to stay, she didn’t want to go, she wanted to be here, with him. She’d made friends with his team at work, had started to build a life here and she didn’t want to leave it behind. She didn’t want to run from him the way she had from Neal. In that moment, every feeling he’d been pushing aside because he’d been worried about pressuring her hit him full force.

His desire to protect Emma wasn’t about Neal, it was because he cared about her. And yes, it had started when she was a dog, but the feelings had only grown since she’d turned back into a human. He wanted her to be safe because he loved her. He’d fallen in love with her mind when he’d spent hours reading her notebook, he’d fallen in love with her as a platonic companion when she’d spent nine months living with him as a dog. He’d fallen in love with her spirit and her determination, with how brave she was.

“That might be… difficult.” Her face dropped, and she looked like she might cry, but Killian grinned at her, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “Because I can’t let you stay here, unless you understand what that means to me…”

She swallowed, and her expression changed again, curiosity, hope. Killian kept smiling, and he had a feeling he wasn’t going to be disappointed.

“I’m falling in love with you, Emma,” he admitted. “I’ve been falling in love with you since I first read your notebook.”

Emma blushed and looked away before looking back at Killian. There were more words on the tip of his tongue, but he could see that she wanted to speak but was hunting for words of her own. She’d grown so used to no one wanting or even considering listening to her that he’d always tried to take the time to let her gather her thoughts and speak in her own time.

But like a lot of times, Emma was a woman of action rather than a woman of words. She turned in her seat and put her hand on his chest as the other hand slipped round to the back of his head. As she moved Killian felt his heart rate increasing, anticipation coiling in his gut. He hadn’t expected her to be so forward, but when she leaned in, he found himself closing the gap without a second thought.

It started softly, but Emma poured everything she was feeling into that kiss, and Killian responded in kind. How was he supposed to do anything else? He shifted in his seat, his fingers tangling in her hair, and moving to grip her thigh. He groaned into the kiss, his tongue sweeping across her lips and she let it into her mouth with a soft moan. He could feel her hand gripping his shirt, her fingers twisting into his hair.

Finally, both breathless, they pulled back just enough that their foreheads were resting together as he let the tip of his nose brush up the side of hers.

“Well, love, I’m starting to think this won’t be so difficult after all,” he said with a grin.

“Mmmm,” she hummed with a smile as she looked into his eyes. “One more thing…” He raised an eyebrow. “I don’t have to keep sleeping in the spare room, do I?”

This time it was Killian who responded with actions rather than words, chuckling as he used his nose to nudge her head up, pressing their lips back together. Emma giggled against his lips.

They didn’t finish dinner that night. 

Emma never slept in the spare room again. 

It only took one near miss at work for Emma to tell Killian she loved him, and threaten to kill him if he scared her like that again. 

It took Emma cutting her hand open on a baked bean tin just once for Killian to propose. 

Emma had never felt more loved than she did on her wedding day.

Neither did Killian.

Until three years later, when they looked into the face of their daughter, and realised that the moment Emma asked to stay had been just the beginning, and the end wasn’t yet in sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading, and commenting and making me feel gosh darn loved. You are all amazing, I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope xhookswenchx enjoyed her distraction xoxox

**Author's Note:**

> If the magic bit of this isn't your thing, then feel free to just read this chapter, but I hope everyone will stick around and see where this goes. It's cute and it was fun to write so... 
> 
> Again, thanks for reading, and I'd love to hear what you all think!


End file.
